Crowdis bridge replacement welcome news in Inverness County

MARGAREE — An Inverness County municipal councillor is welcoming word that the Crowdis bridge will be replaced next year.

Allan MacMaster addresses his supporters at the Judique Fire Hall after being re-elected in the riding of Inverness in October 2013.

The project has been included as part of Stephen McNeil Liberal government’s 2014-15 capital plan, which was released recently.

“We’re very relieved, so to speak, that that was going to be done,” Coun. Gloria LeBlanc said. “It’s been a long time coming because the last couple of years, since they closed the bridge down, it’s been pretty difficult for a lot of people.”

The bridge has been closed since July 2012 when it was deemed unsafe by the provincial transportation department, after years of weight restrictions.

Members of the community signed a petition last year calling upon the province to restore the connection and there was a letter-writing campaign in support of the project. LeBlanc and other representatives also made a trip to Halifax earlier this year to meet with the Minister of Transportation and she said she believes it had an impact on the decision to fund the project.

“We must have convinced the minister that it was absolutely necessary,” LeBlanc said.

There are three bridges in the area — the Cranton Crossroads, the Ingraham and the Crowdis. In 2010, a major flood closed the Cranton Crossroads bridge, leaving it down for repairs for several months. The Ingraham bridge was also unusable for fire trucks and ambulances.

“When we have a problem with flooding, where the Cranton bridge usually floods, then the Crowdis bridge is the next access across the river from West Big Intervale to East Big Intervale so, with that gone, we always worry about having a problem with the Cranton bridge,” LeBlanc said. “It cuts off the east from the west and that’s not good for ambulance, fire, any of the major services.”

People in the community were hoping to see the work in 2013, LeBlanc said, but are pleased there is a commitment to do the work.

LeBlanc also thanked the area’s PC MLA Allan MacMaster for work that he did on the file.

“This was something very important to the community and something we have been working to secure,” MacMaster said in a news release.

“Having a new bridge in place will support local first responders to help residents,” MacMaster said. “It will also help to support economic activity should one of the other bridges in the area become flooded out in a future event.”

The former NDP provincial government had indicated the bridge was on the list for replacement 2014-15. Then-minister Maurice Smith indicated earlier this year that design work and planning were already.